AN: This sentence only exists for formatting purposes. Enjoy the chapter.


Waves:

The village of waves was cold in the night this time of year, springtime mists flowing in off the waters and nearby forests and coating the houses with a thick blanket of cloying damp. Other than that, however, it seemed a relatively nice place. The buildings were large, sturdy and uniformly well maintained. A nearby harbor boasted numerous ships, each bearing the flags of a merchant crew or fishing vessel. All in all, the place seemed cheerful and prosperous.

And yet, Kakashi considered, sitting on a short cliff-side that overlooked the area. This place feels… off, unsafe. Maybe it's because the place is so close to the hidden mist. Maybe it's because the weather reduces visibility. Hell, the boy chuckled. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Kakashi felt the attack coming more by instinct than by any real sensory input, ducking down as some unseen object whistled past and scooping the linen wrapped Naruto up to his chest protectively. The boy turned, scanning the surrounding area intently. Nothing. Kakashi momentarily cursed the loss of Obito's sharingan. The powerful eye would have made identifying his foe a simple endeavor. Still, he knew it had been necessary. A glass eye was far easier to hide than a permanently active sharingan. Kakashi took the briefest of moments to consider his options. He could try and stand his ground, facing an unknown foe he couldn't see and carrying a baby in one arm, or he could run.

Kakashi jumped backwards off the cliff without hesitation. Dropping a good ten meters and landing in a crouch to absorb the fall before turning and running towards the village proper at a dead sprint. If he was lucky, his pursuers wouldn't be able to catch up before he found a suitable bar or crowd to lose himself in.

Kakashi made it nearly half way to the town before a hand grasped hold of his shoulder, stopping his momentum dead. "Jeez, kid, were you always this fast?"

Wait, Kakashi recognized that voice. Jiraiya? The boy relaxed immediately.

"Old man," the boy grunted angrily, turning to face the taller ninja. "You just very nearly gave me a heart attack. What the hell did you attack me for?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Had to make sure you weren't getting soft, little man. Retirement does that to people sometimes. Besides, I didn't attack you," The older man pointed a finger towards a pair of figures approaching through the fog. "They did."

As the pair approached, Kakashi took careful stock of them both, not entirely liking the idea of Jiraiya bringing new people in on his secret. The first of the two was a tall woman, blonde and, by appearances at least, in her early twenties. There was something in the way she carried herself though, Kakashi noted, that hinted she might be older; a telltale restraint to her movements, a consuming caution one rarely saw in ninja less than thirty. The second new arrival was a girl, by appearances, around Kakashi's own age. Both newcomers were panting very slightly.

"Holy crap, you're fast," the blonde woman commented as she approached. "If we hadn't placed Jiraiya here to intercept you, we'd have lost you in the village before we ever caught up."

Kakashi did a quick run through of his dossier readings. An associate of Jiraiya, female, well endowed, older than she looks. Ahh, Lady Tsunade. So that means the girl with her must be- "Madame Shizune," Kakashi murmured respectfully, extending a hand to the girl. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the only other person my age to rival my track record."

The girl, whether surprised or not, concealed it well, taking the proffered hand and shaking it. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she replied politely. "The only kid I know of who rivaled me was Kakashi Hatake, and he died recently, I'm afraid."

"Ah, of course," Kakashi chuckled. "My mistake. I'm Maigo, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Maigo," the dark haired girl replied with a slight smile.

"Oi," came a gruff voice from Jiraiya, reminding Kakashi that there were indeed others present. "Stop flirting, you two. We have a mission to discuss."

"Before that," Kakashi interrupted. "I have to ask, why did you bring these two in on this?" He turned his head to the slug sage briefly. "I mean no offence, of course, Lady Tsunade, but surely the secret is better kept by telling fewer people."

Jiraiya shook his head. "It's not just about keeping the secret, Maigo," he replied. "It's about making sure Menma here gets a good life, no matter what. Now, I may be a Sannin, but I'm not invincible. I can die just like anyone else. I told Tsunade about what was going on so that you and the kid would have more than just a single contact backing you up here. A precaution."

Kakashi considered this for a moment, then, grudgingly, nodded. "Yeah, okay, makes sense." He turned his head quickly to the two women. "Thank you for coming, both of you."

Shizune nodded solemnly in recognition. Tsunade, for her part, extended a hand. "Let me see the kid. I want to make sure he's doing all right."

Kakashi hesitated for a moment, cautious about handing over Naruto to anyone but himself, least of all another ninja, but eventually relented. Tsunade took the thickly swaddled baby and began to examine him, a hand pressed gently to the soft skin of his head, glowing a faint green.

Kakashi watched anxiously, distinctly nervous about handing over Naruto to this stranger, however trustworthy she might be. As much to distract himself as anything else, he voiced the question that had been nagging at him since he received Jiraiya's letter. "So," he started. "Why the wave village, Jiraiya? Surely there're a bunch of places where I could launder my money, aren't there? Why did we have to come so close to the blood mist village?"

The old man shrugged. "Yes and no. There are some complications with the money that mean we need to be careful how we do this."

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of complications?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Well, Maigo, I had to tell some pretty complicated lies to keep your escape a secret. The official story is that you died keeping the nine-tails away from Konoha and Menma here was never even born. The unofficial story is that you snapped after Minato died and tried to escape after killing his son, forcing me to kill you myself before backup arrived. Unfortunately, that version of things left it so that I was the last person who ever saw where all that money you took went. I replaced it with some from my personal funds, but the fact remains that the village leaders think I'm in possession of that marked money you're carrying. That means we have to be careful how we get rid of it." The middle aged ninja took a breath while Tsunade handed Naruto back to his guardian, seemingly satisfied, before continuing.

"Because the leaf thinks I kept the money for myself, they assumed I must have some reason for holding on to a supply of traceable funds. So while yes, you could launder this money in bits and pieces wherever you wanted, doing so would blow my cover completely. We need to get rid of the money in a way that directly benefits the leaf village and at a time and place where my presence cannot be disproved to the higher ups. Otherwise, they might ask how I was spending money in the wave village when I was provably in the leaf. Our mission here, Maigo, is to break into the home of a corrupt shipping magnate and quietly swap our traceable money with an equal amount of his untraceable money. That way, you and I are free and clear, the leaf village gets an explanation for why I swapped out some of their cash, and a dangerous potential crime lord gets to be covertly observed by our logistical teams. Everyone wins."

Kakashi nodded, the plan seemed solid enough. "So," he asked calmly. "Who's the target?"

Jiraiya gave the boy a winning smile. "The asshole we'll be targeting today is called Gato. According to intelligence, the guy's been trying to monopolize the shipping industry here for years."

"Okay," said Kakashi. "Seems reasonable. Second question, why are they here?" The boy pointed to the two women, watching the conversation impassively.

"Lady Tsunade's here for a meet and greet," Shizune responded promptly, her gaze not wavering from Kakashi. "I'm here to offer tactical support in case you screw this up."

Kakashi scowled at the girl. "Why would I screw this up, huh?"

The dark haired girl grinned. "I don't know Maigo. You've been out of the job for a while, how can I know you haven't gotten rusty?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You know, if you wanted to see me in action, you really only needed to ask me."

Jiraiya chuckled. Tsunade, however, groaned. "Yes, you two, we get it, you both have hormones. You can deal with those later. You have a mission to get through now."

Shizune scowled, shooting Kakashi a put-upon look. "Lady Tsunade never lets me have any fun," she grumbled.

Kakashi grinned. "She's just jealous she's not as young as she was." That hit a nerve, there was a flicker of light in Tsunade's eyes as she glared down at the boy who wisely hastened to hand off the bundled up Naruto before making his exit, Shizune quick on his heels. "Well, I got a mission to get to, see ya."

"Little shit," Tsunade grumbled, watching the two youngsters depart.

"He's not normally like that," Jiraiya said thoughtfully, gazing after them.

"What, bratty?" The blonde woman asked.

"No, happy. First time I've seen him like that for a while."

"…Huh," Tsunade said after considering for a time. "To be honest, I don't think I've seen Shizune like that in a while either."

"Teenagers?" Jiraiya made the single word statement sound like a question.

"Teenagers." Tsunade agreed, shaking her head tiredly. "Come on, Jiraiya, I need a drink."


The two small shadows moved through the fortified compound in utter silence, blending perfectly with the shifting, bending shapes cast by the flickering light of torches. Once or twice, a few of the guards thought they saw something, only to decide after a moment or two that it was merely a trick of the light. The fact that they noticed anything at all was annoying to Kakashi. The boy knew perfectly well that it had more to do with his soft-colored civilian garb than any decrease in his level of skill, but the close calls were not good for leaving a great first impression with Shizune. Kakashi wasn't sure why, but he had decided he really rather cared about making sure this girl respected him.

Shizune, for her part, was impressive, Kakashi had to admit. She swam through the shadows just as well as he did and, for once, he found he wasn't having to slow himself in order for her to keep up with him, a feat most ANBU squads would have found challenging to perform.

The two found their way to Gato's vault room without incident, silent as the night-time breeze. Kakashi wasted no time opening his pack, watching the door while Shizune worked on the locked vault. If he had found the girl impressive before, Kakashi was downright inspired by the deftness with which she picked the lock, her hands moving with a dexterity born of years upon years of dedicated surgical practice.

One by one, the seconds ticked away, Kakashi watching the entrance in composed silence as Shizune diligently worked. From their initial sweep of the area, the two knew that a guard would round the corner within the next twenty seconds. Eighteen, seventeen.

Shizune had the vault open before Kakashi was down to ten seconds and they were inside before he reached eight, closing the door behind them and leaving it just barely ajar. Two rooms away, the pair heard the thudding sounds of footfalls as the guard passed by, his ineptitude matched only by his noisiness. The two young ninja grinned at one another, sharing a silent joke. 'Civilians.'

The money was swapped out with ease and speed, neither companion wasting any time as they worked, placing Kakashi's money in among Gato's stash in portions, no more than a few notes in any given place. They stepped back out and closed the vault door behind them in perfect silence. Kakashi shot his momentary partner a grin and made a single hand-signal. 'Race?'

Shizune nodded, her own smile strangely wolfish, before the two made their way once more out of the compound at speed, neck and neck with one another the whole way.


Jiraiya and Tsunade had a single objective, be as noticeable as possible, a task at which they were excelling with the utter lack of grace and civility that seemed to define the Sannin. Kakashi and Shizune had been gone for barely half an hour when the fourth bottle of Sake was emptied, neither sage showing any sign of slowing. As was the way between them, Jiraiya and Tsunade were bickering mildly with one another and, as was the way when they drank, the bickering was gradually becoming more and more heated.

Kakashi and Shizune watched their respective teachers balefully from the tavern doorway for several long moments, before glancing momentarily at one another. An agreement was reached in silence, there was no need to return to the others right away. The pair turned and walked away through the bustling nighttime crowd, looking for a café or convenience of some sort where they could grab some food. Kakashi debated furiously with himself whether it would be appropriate to try holding Shizune's hand. The decision was wrested away from him when, after a few minutes indecision, he felt the girl slip her small hand into his own, intertwining her fingers with his gently. Kakashi, having spent most of his life wearing a mask, failed to realize how noticeable it was when he blushed, and so made no effort to hide it, smiling slightly as the two of them walked along. Kakashi was not sure what it was that was helping him feel so light, the presence of a pretty girl, the interaction with someone with whom he actually shared some life experiences, or the chance to utilize his vast array of skills for once. All Kakashi knew was that, for the first time in almost a year and a half, he felt genuinely happy.

The two teens argued good-naturedly about their race as as they walked, hand in hand, down the fog laden street.